We we're talking about Chenrezig practice in another other thread, and it brought a question to mind..so to speak;) pardon if it's a silly question, but what is a "normal" Chenrezig practice for one's everyday, home practice in general, if there is such a thing?

I plan on asking the Lama this of course before doing anything, i'm just wondering if there is something people do regularly beyond just 108 om mani padme hum's, which I take it you can do whenever, whereever. Is it normal to always do the visualization practice with these in one's practice? I have been doing the mantra on my own for a bit now which is great, i am just wondering if most traditions see a sort of 'limit' on what you are supposed to do in your own practice, as opposed to the group Sadhanas.

May the eyes of living beings be gladdened by skies made splendid by clouds that lightnings garland, while on earth below, the peacocks dance with joy as showers of rain, falling gently, approach.

Johnny Dangerous wrote:We we're talking about Chenrezig practice in another other thread, and it brought a question to mind..so to speak;) pardon if it's a silly question, but what is a "normal" Chenrezig practice for one's everyday, home practice in general, if there is such a thing?

I plan on asking the Lama this of course before doing anything, i'm just wondering if there is something people do regularly beyond just 108 om mani padme hum's, which I take it you can do whenever, whereever. Is it normal to always do the visualization practice with these in one's practice? I have been doing the mantra on my own for a bit now which is great, i am just wondering if most traditions see a sort of 'limit' on what you are supposed to do in your own practice, as opposed to the group Sadhanas.

If you have the empowerment, then you can practice it at any time and you would normally practice visualization. However you can recite mantra and do the visualization just buy themselves as well or just recite the mantra or just rest the mind in the visualization. In general, visualization in the Tibetan traditions is a form of calming meditation or shamatha although visualization does not end there,

If you do not have the empowerment, you can still do this kind of sadhana at any time however you don't visualize yourself as Chenrezig.

Also in the visualization you can do things like sending wisdom light to all beings, eliminating them of all purity and sickness and transforming them all into Buddhas, etc. This is very beneficial.

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

I strongly recommend Bokar Rinpoche's book, "Chenrezig:Lord of Love," which contains complete short practice and explanation. Also, see www.kdk.org for a short daily practice, as well. These are both based on Thangtong Gyalpo's root Sadhana, which is the core of many center's Chenrezig practices.

"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."

May any merit generated by on-line discussionBe dedicated to the Ultimate Benefit of All Sentient Beings.

"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."

May any merit generated by on-line discussionBe dedicated to the Ultimate Benefit of All Sentient Beings.

conebeckham wrote:I strongly recommend Bokar Rinpoche's book, "Chenrezig:Lord of Love," which contains complete short practice and explanation. Also, see http://www.kdk.org for a short daily practice, as well. These are both based on Thangtong Gyalpo's root Sadhana, which is the core of many center's Chenrezig practices.

One of my teachers just recommended this very book. I'll have to pick up a copy. Thank you!

So I asked the lama and senior students whether I could practice Chenrezig visualization, it seems I was told that I could do the same visualization as the group practice on my own. So for my own practice obviously the question is answered.

I'm wondering what is the root of the disagreement here in different schools of thought, I see some sources saying you cannot do the self-generation as Chenrezig without empowerment, and others saying it is ok. In both cases of course empowerment is encouraged regardless.

One thing I notice about the practice, the self-visualization stuff is really intense, like a direct attack on the ego almost...is this perhaps why it might be seen as dangerous?

May the eyes of living beings be gladdened by skies made splendid by clouds that lightnings garland, while on earth below, the peacocks dance with joy as showers of rain, falling gently, approach.

Recently i have added some mantra recitation to my practice and after finishing I visualizethe blessings in form of light entering trough my forehead, throat and heart and resting in the calm as recommended by my lama. This is really beautiful and fulfilling. I was wondering if i could do this with chenrezig even do if i dont have the empowerment. I do have 1 thousand arm chenrezig empowerment. Can i?

actually, i've read that if one is engaged in daily commitment practice - like if you have a commitment to say however many om mani's you feel like per day (such like the dalai lama might request of one of his students) - and one cannot attend a 1 week, 3 month, or however long retreat concentrating on that specific practice, then it would be very beneficial to accumulate 100,000 recitations as often as possible. this can be easily done by doing 1000 recitations each day - 10 rounds of 108. With om mani's it takes about 12 minutes once you become proficient in reciting the mantra continuously. Also, that KDK Chenrezig practice seems to be quite profound - it includes an Amitabha powa prayer at the end, so this would probably be a wonderful practice to do each day. Also, if one is doing that sadhana, then one can also visualize Amitabha before bed and say Om Ami Dewa Hri 6 times and make the prayer to be born in Dewachen and meet Amitabha, then imagine Amitabha dissolves into red light which melts into you from the brahmananda and dedicate the merit.much love!

I think the practice varies with the teacher/lama?I know three kinds of Chenrezig Sadhanas in my Sangha. There is the big 1000-arms Avalokiteshvara-fasting ritual. It takes at least two days and it was founded by the nun Gelongma Palmo some hundreds of years ago. Then there is a short form of this for to do it at home, but it still takes one hour to do it.And then we also have a very short sadhana from the Chenrezig with four arms. It has only a short visualization and a mantra-part.